


Something Good Can Work

by skellyskoo



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Genre: Bethany and Carver Hawke Live, Default Hawke, Gen, I love my hawke siblings, Purple Hawkes, Siblings, Twin Hawkes, gare and mari are giant dorks, im basically rewriting the prologue but this time with double the hawkes, it depends on how im feeling, maybe ill continue this for the whole game who knows
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-24
Updated: 2017-04-15
Packaged: 2018-09-26 15:12:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,658
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9908243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skellyskoo/pseuds/skellyskoo
Summary: The Dragon Age 2 Prologue, except double the amount of Hawke kids.--"In his retelling, Marian was fierce and relentless with her attacks, covering Carver as he went in and cut down the mighty beast, the two of them a well-oiled killing machine. Their mother cheered them on from the sidelines, where he sat with Bethany, tending to her wounds."





	1. Fighting Is Just Preemptive Healing

**Author's Note:**

> hello! In my heart both garrett and marian hawke are canon and exist together, and bioware can rip this from my cold, dead hands.  
> My friend and beautiful beta cara (xieme on here) and I talk about twin hawkes a lot, and I decided to finally write something for it. We figure that nobody really has to die. Because where's the fun in that. I have pretty much the entire game worked out in my head, it's just a matter of putting it to paper (paper? text document? whatever.) and then refining it and actually giving enough of a shit about it to finish it. I have a garbage track record with the last part, so. Y'know I'm not feeling too ambitious.  
> I've got three chapters of this written already, and I think I'll stop at 4. Actually I might not? It depends on if I want to do an extra bonus chapter™ about their time with the smuggling/merc crew.  
> I named this after a Two Door Cinema Club song because I am bad at naming things and that song is currently playing so. I mean, I guess.

When the ogre ran at Bethany, and the only thing between her, their mother, and the beast was wide open, blighted landscape, Garrett Hawke did the one thing that seemed to make sense: he went into cardiac arrest.

He didn’t actually- but he _did_ use that as an excuse later for not acting sooner. Later, when he recounted his tale in the Hanged Man at a table full of friends and siblings; drinks, money, and bad stories flowing between them all. In his retelling, Marian was fierce and relentless with her attacks, covering Carver as he went in and cut down the mighty beast, the two of them a well-oiled killing machine. Their mother cheered them on from the sidelines, where he sat with Bethany, tending to her wounds.

In reality, the ogre charged Bethany, who tossed a prayer and a fireball at it’s towering form. The ogre, in return, smacked her across the ground, causing her body to go limp as she flew backwards a short distance. Their mother screamed, the dog barked, time seemed to screech to a shuddering halt, and Garrett acted on a mix of fear, anger, and instinct- he slammed his staff into the ground and built a wall of ice between the monster and his baby sister’s bruised body. At the same time, Carver used that as a cue to take action, yelling at the beast to get it’s attention before charging it.

 -

Time was moving painfully slowly for Marian. The world seemed to be incredibly far away, and her body felt paralyzed. She watched the scene unfold before her with a growing sense of doom; panic’s cold, dead fingers grasped her throat, causing her breath to come to her in short, shallow bursts. When Carver’s cry of anguish and anger ripped through the air as he charged the beast, the world snapped back like a rubber band. Her feet felt cold, and she still felt paralyzed, but as she watched the ogre make a move to hit her baby brother, she felt her voice crawl its way desperately out of her throat, and she screamed, whipped her staff forward, and shot lightning at the beast. Somewhere in the back of her mind she thought to herself, “Lightning, huh? Never done lightning before,” and the ogre reeled it’s, now charred, hand back, taking a moment to acknowledge its new opponent, successfully creating an opening for Carver to hack at.

 -

Bethany noted to herself that, despite the immense pain overwhelming her senses, she was pleased to find that she wasn’t bleeding, so at least she probably won’t catch the Blight. She also noted that both her mother and Garrett were hovering over her. “Well,” she thought to herself, “that’s nice.” Both of them were saying something to her, but nothing aside from ‘immense pain’ was currently registering in her brain at the moment. Her body felt broken, not right. Her head ached with a pain she couldn’t comprehend, and she barely registered that she could feel tears sliding down her face. “That’s interesting,” Bethany thought, “I’m not even sad.”

- 

Garrett has the sudden, crushing realization that he isn’t equipped to handle this at all. He doesn’t know how to fix her, how to knit the bones back together. That was always Marian’s job. Garrett feels panic try and claw its way up his throat before whipping his head towards her and yells.

If his voice is pitched slightly higher than normal then nobody mentions it.

“Swap with me!” He calls. Marian's eyes flick towards him, her cold blue meeting his warm brown and she nods once, sharply. Garrett scoops up his staff and goes to run and take her place. He spares a quick glance behind him only to see his mother and sister, Bethany’s head resting in her lap, their faithful dog guarding them. Bethany looks dead, her eyes unfocused and staring at the sky above them, breaths coming as slow, painful wheezes. Garrett turns back ahead, focusing on the scene in front of him. The ogre’s arm is moving to make a swipe for Marian’s unguarded side, and he slides underneath it with a fireball to the lumbering beasts’ side. She whoops, unable to help herself despite the situation, and Garrett feels a bubble of hysterical laughter in his throat. He clamps it down, and skids to a stop behind Carver. His knees are a bit uncomfortable from the friction, but he pays it no mind and goes straight for offense, unleashing everything he’s got on the surrounding hoard and monster in front of them. He sends a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that his baby sister lives through this.  
-

“Awful nice of you to drop in!” Carver yells to his older brother. Garrett gives a breathless laugh, fire flying through the air, shifting and curving around Carver as he swings his sword, striking true. The stench of burning, dead flesh is unpleasant and permeates the air. Carver wishes he’d switch to ice, or even rock. He isn't feeling too picky.

“Oh, you know! More of a slide, really?”

Carver laughs despite himself, for once welcoming the untimely wit of his older sibling. It makes it easier for him to let his mind slip into routine, for him to stop thinking about his twin, meters away from him, possibly dying, and empty his mind of all thoughts except how best to carve through the obstacles in front of him. His arms burn from swinging the giant greatsword around, but it’s a good burn, and that too, helps to keep him from falling into a state frantic desperation. He doesn’t want to think of Bethany dying, not now, not yet, not ever _._ By the will of the Maker, these darkspawn will pay.

 -

Marian drops to her knees at Bethany’s side, hands hovering over her sister’s prone form. She hears their dog whine at her, as if he’s telling her to fix this mess already. She’s painfully aware of Bethany’s shallow breathing, of how clouded with fear and pain and confusion her eyes have become. Of the small, choked call to their dead father that she wheezes out. Marian doesn’t want to lose her baby sister, not to this, not to anything. She cracks her knuckles, itching with a warrant want, _need,_ to do something, anything. She calls on her magic and the lessons the three of them learned together when they were young, back before Lothering and before the blight. She remembers a conversation they had together, and she remembers saying that, really, if they think about it, there’s no need to learn healing, as fighting is just preemptive healing. She remembers Father smiling tiredly at her, shaking his head at her pre-teen logic.

Another choked breath brings her back to the present and Marian admonishes herself for the fact that she keeps slipping today.

“Beth,” she calls to her little sister, voice soft, firm, vying for Bethany’s attention.

It works.

Kind of.

Bethany’s eyes glide over to her face, and Marian exhales sharply in relief. “Hey,” she forces an awkward smile, “I’m not great at this, so it’s gonna hurt a lot more before it starts to hurt less.” Bethany wheezes again in response, and Marian takes that as her way of saying “Yes, yes alright! Get to work you big oaf, before I die, here!”

-

Bethany’s mind is clouded, fuzzed, and she could swear she sees her father, off in the distance. Her heart aches and oh, how she misses him. “Not yet Bethy.” he says, his smile gentle. The same smile she sees on Garrett’s face, the same blue eyes as her sister, and suddenly, she can breathe. Her sister's face swims above her, mouth set in a straight line, the same way Mothers used to when she found out that she and Marian ruined their clothes wrestling with Carver and Gare again. “She looks so worried,” Bethany notes and goes to reach for Marian’s cheek, to let her know that she’s fine, but she finds that her arm is more of a dead weight than a limb, and instead ends up flopping it across her own body. Marian tenses and then looks up at her face, and Bethany can see that she’s about ready to cry. A wet nose presses her cheek, and she can feel a hand stroking through her hair. All at once, Bethany suddenly remembers how she was just slapped around by a giant, hulking darkspawn in a heroic attempt to protect their mother. 'That was probably stupid of me,' she thinks to herself.

“Remember,” she wheezes when she speaks, finding it difficult to talk with bruised ribs “Remember when you said we shouldn’t bother to learn healing?” Marian laughs, but it comes out more as a choked sob.

“Welcome back to the world of the living.” She says, cracking a watery smile and Bethany wants to laugh. She does- a small chuckle that hurts her ribs.

“Don’t welcome me back just yet, I’m still debating the pros and cons here” she croaks out. Her chest feels tender, and she knows it’ll take a while for it to heal. Weeks. Bethany doesn’t look forward to it.

“If you die, I’ll kill you.” Marian warns, warmth flooding her voice. Her tears fall freely, and a grin is plastered to her face.

“That’s a funny thing to say.” Bethany retorts. She can’t help but to smile herself.

The sounds of battle make their way into her consciousness, and she tries to sit up, only getting halfway before Marian pushes her back down to lay in their mother’s lap.

“Not yet, don’t strain yourself.” Bethany rolls her eyes with a little effort and looks up at their mother, who is staring back at her, face in tears.

  
“Oh, Bethany,” she says and strokes her hair, “My brave little girl.” Leandra smiles at her, and Bethany returns a sheepish grin. She hears her brother yell from beyond the wall of ice that guards them and turns limply to look at it. Bethany isn’t sure which one yelled, but she finds she cares less about the _who_ and more about the _why._

Her curiosities are answered with the resounding screech from the ogre that felled her, and the miniature earthquake its dead body causes when it falls. She gives a weak croak of encouragement, the dog barking with her, and smiles before turning back to their mother, who stares ahead with a horror-stricken face.

Bethany feels a sense of dread settle in the pit of her stomach. She looks over to get a glimpse of Marian’s face and gauge her reaction to their surroundings. She sees instead her sister standing tall, staff poised for a fight.

- 

“There’s too many of them!” Garrett hears Marian call above the noise in his head and around them. More darkspawn. He opens his mouth to respond but before he can even get a breath out, a dragon roars overhead.

Despite the dire situation, he can’t help but feel an overwhelming amount of excitement.

”Well I’ve always wanted to meet a _dragon_ ,” he mumbles to himself, a little awestruck, and though he can neither see nor hear her, he knows his twin shares the sentiment.


	2. There Will Be No Quick Fixes, No Painless Solutions

The dragon was a woman, as it turns out.

 

An old woman, powerful and cryptic and full of secrets.

Was it magic? Obviously. Shapeshifting? Of course, but the ‘how do I become a dragon’ part was something completely lost to them.

The woman, Flemeth, she called herself, laughed. “I can help you,” she said, her voice old, gravely, mystic. They wanted to know if “helping” involved teaching them to be a dragon, but sadly they were pretty sure it didn’t.

“One condition,” She continues, and with an outstretched hand she drops something into Marian’s. “Deliver this for me, to the Dalish clan Sabrae.”

“..What is it?” Garrett looks between the amulet and Flemeth.  
“Amulet.” Marian states, and Garrett nudges the back of her knees. “I can see that,” He retorts.

Flemeth laughs, seemingly amused by their display.  
“So what do you say? Will you complete this task? Help this old woman?"

“Well you know," Marian starts and looks down at the amulet, examining it. She figures that it looks normal enough, and therefore is safe to jam into her pocket, "I'm not typically the type to help out cryptic old women-"

“Who turn into Dragons,” Garrett cuts in and Marian tries not to laugh, shaking her head a little.

“Yes thank you brother- As I said, I don't _usually_ help out, much less trust, cryptic old ladies, but I don’t think we can really afford to be picky today.” She sends Flemeth a wry smile, and Flemeth returns it. Marian suddenly feels as if they’re two schoolgirls with a dark and dirty secret, hiding behind the chantry and gossiping in hushed tones.

“Are you serious!?” Carver shouts from behind them, breaking the moment. Marian elects to ignore him.

“She’s a Witch of the Wilds,” Comes Aveline’s voice. Marian doesn't elect to ignore her, and turns to see her slowly standing from where she was previously crouched next to the templar- Wesley. A cough from him causes her to quickly kneel back at his side again. ‘Witch of the what?’ Marian wants to ask, but before she can the Witch steps forward,

“He is a lost cause.” she says and stalks her way towards the duo. “Your man has the Blight, and it won’t be long now.” The 'until he dies a horrible death' goes unsaid. Her gaze falls upon them, the dying templar and his wife.

“Aveline-” Garrett speaks up, making a move to reach for her,

“There has to be something we can do! The Grey Wardens?” Her sudden interruption roots him to his spot, and he drops his arm again. Aveline’s eyes flick frantically between them all, searching for the answers that none of them have.

Except for maybe Flemeth, but she just shakes her head, playing along. 

“Dead-" she pauses, looking down, "and the last are perhaps halfway to Denerim by now.” Flemeth looks up again with a wistful smile, as if she knows something they don’t. Marian doesn’t doubt it- she just wishes the woman would help, offer some vital piece of information.

Silence hangs between them, and Marian looks at them all. Her mother, Bethany who sits upright now, their mabari faithfully beside them. Marian feels warmth swell in her heart, “Good boy,” she thinks to herself. The dog looks at her knowingly and Marian continues her survey, her attention falls to Garrett and Carver, standing shoulder to shoulder, and finally to Aveline. Her hand cups Wesley’s cheek as he struggles for breath. Marian realizes that there will be no quick fixes, no painless solutions. She makes her way over, kneeling next to the sad couple.

“Not many get to choose their death,” The witch says, and Marian swallows the knot in her throat. She knows her role in this, and the witch knows that. Marian hates it.

With a trembling hand, she removes the dagger in her belt. It's for emergencies. The irony of the situation is not lost on her. “It’s your decision, Aveline. He's your husband.”

Aveline closes her eyes, choking back a sob. Marian thinks of her own emotional turmoil regarding Bethany, and feels guilty that Wesley and Aveline won’t get lucky as they had.

 

Wesley smiles through his pain, reaching up to stroke a thumb across his distraught wife’s cheek.

“Look at me my love.” he commands, and she does, “It’s alright. It’s better this way.”

Aveline shakes her head, and takes a deep breath. Unshed tears shine in her eyes, and she looks over to Marian and the dagger she offers. Unsaid thanks hang between them, and she takes the dagger. Marian gets to her feet, backing up to stand next to Garrett. Aveline deserves privacy.

Marian feels her brother’s hand twitching next to hers, his arm moving up to pull her into an embrace.

 

“I’ll always love you.” Aveline speaks barely above a whisper, and Wesley holds her hands around the knife, guiding it towards his stomach. Marian wants to turn, to bury her face into her brother’s bicep the way they did when they were children. She shouldn’t be watching this, this intimate moment between them. Aveline deserves better, and yet she can’t look away. In the deepest parts of her, she feels as if it’s her duty to do this for her, to bare witness as together the last act as husband and wife they share is they end his life and subsequent misery.  

 

Marian swallows thickly, giving into her childish desire to rest her head on her brother’s shoulder. A moment of comfort in this awful day. The knife is plunged into Wesley, and with his final breath he whispers that he too, will always love Aveline. Aveline removes the knife from his body, and tosses it to the side. Her body slumps as if the weight of the world rests on her shoulders. Marian supposes she would feel the same if their positions were switched. She makes a move to sit with the mourning woman in a show of solidarity, stepping away from Garrett and the warmth he offers. Behind them, Carver helps Bethany to her feet.

The world moves on around them, and Marian isn't sure if it's been a few minutes or a few hours. Time is off today, but she can hear darkspawn in the distance, and the sounds of the fires burning around them. Leandra, now relieved of her duty as Bethany’s crutch, walks over to collect the two women, resting a hand on each of their shoulders. Marian looks up at her mother, knowing pain in her own eyes. She remembers how it was when Father died, she too, knows the pain of being a widow.

Leandra rubs a slow circle on their backs, and Marian takes it as a cue to stand, to walk over to the which called Flemeth. Marian has no idea what to do, and feels severely under equipped to handle all of this by herself.

Flemeth smiles knowingly, and it’s incredibly unnerving. Once again Marian is reminded that the witch knows far more than she lets on, and the witch transforms back into a dragon. Her eyes shut instinctively as the reaction from the transformation pushes heat and air into her face, blowing her hair back. Flemeth flies up and away to clear a path for the refugees as promised. Briefly Marian wonders if as opposed to a woman who turns into dragons, she is actually a dragon who just happens to be able to turn into a woman. The noise of Aveline’s armor causes her to turn back around and look upon her family. She figures Aveline gets to be included in that now. They’ve witnessed far too much of each other for her to not be. The dog seems to like her well enough, anyway.

 

“Well,” Marian clears her throat, “Let’s go, then.”

And so they went.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> xoxo god bless xieme for helpin with this shit


	3. And I'm Just Fine

Bethany was ill as they travelled to Gwaren, and as well on the boat to Kirkwall. Two parts seasickness and one part recovery from her injuries. Towards the end of their journey the tenderness of the bruises began to fade, the color turning from a deep purple to a greenish-gold. Aveline stayed with them, their not-so-silent protector, and Marian and Garrett made a silent pact to protect her in turn.

Leandra and Aveline spoke often during the trip, quiet talks about Malcolm and Wesley; while the siblings sat close to each other, huddled for shelter against the rank stench of all the warm bodies.

They were at the bottom, packed together with dozens of other refugees, all of which whose homes were overrun with darkspawn and blight. The constant swaying of the ship combined with the near-total lack of light had them all feeling ill, using the intervals between trips to the upper decks to empty their stomachs of nothing and Bethany’s progress to track the days. Poultices were used in place of magic, causing the healing process to creep along at a mind-numbingly slow pace. They couldn’t risk magic so close to so many people, no matter how badly they wanted to. Even Carver wished for it.

Marian and Garrett stayed close, never straying far from their twin. They were close enough before, but now they were inseparable, as if something might happen to the other if they stood apart for even a second. Bethany’s near-death incident scared them all, pushing caution and the overwhelming desire to protect to the forefront of their minds.

Time stretches on between the days, the hours, the minutes. They all feel restless. Birds were never meant to be caged, and they’re Hawkes, packed in below-decks.

\--  
Bethany wakes, feeling feverishly warm and disoriented. The disorientation, she knows, is from being on this Maker-forsaken boat, and it’s something she can’t exactly fix right now. The warmth, she notes, is from her twin. He’s sleeping on her, legs propped on her (now healed) abdomen. Annoyed, she shoves his legs off of her with newfound strength, and the force of it causes him to jolt awake with a snort. His head hits the back of the wooden pillar he was propped against, and he lurches forward, rubbing where it hit. "Wha's that for?" He slurs tiredly. 

“I’m not your furniture,” Bethany snaps at him, and he gives her a look.

She knows that look, “Don’t you dare,” she tells him, and he responds in kind by putting his legs right back on top of her.

 

She takes it as a challenge.

\---  
Marian Hawke loves her sleep. She enjoys the dreams far less than the actual sleeping, but 'Hey,' she figures, 'Can’t have an omelet without cracking a few eggs.' Typically she tends not to wake for while, enjoying being comfortable and nappy, and will laze about until the sunlight hits her eyelids, making it impossible to ignore, or until her mother comes to rip her out of bed unceremoniously and demand she get to work. Neither of those factors have disturbed her sleep since they got on this boat - and she knows she's still on said boat, the constant rocking gives it away - so she isn't sure why she's awake. Marian decides to puzzle out why she's awake, and who woke her by listening for clues, and finds them soon enough. Carver and Bethany are snipping at each other under their breath, and occasionally she feels one of their limbs nudge her. 'Kicking fight,' she deducts, and then decides to feign sleep in the hopes of falling back under.

The kicking continues, and Marian continues to be awake. She keeps her eyes closed, however.

She's nothing if not stubborn.

Someone kicks Marian, and she figures she can’t very well pretend she’s still sleeping anymore- it was a pretty hard kick. Still, she wants to at least _try_ and stay comfortable in the vain hopes that rest comes back for her.

“Children, please” She calls tiredly, voice muffled from using Garrett as a cushion; and kicks back, full strength, in her best guess of where Carver is. She still hasn’t opened her eyes, but she knows she managed to clip him by the resounding noise of discomfort that comes from his direction. Marian smiles to herself. "Victory," she mouths.

She hears Bethany suppress a snicker, and its the last warning she gets before she is forcibly removed from dreamland as her younger siblings team up to take her out.

-

Garrett is awakened by the sweet sounds of a sibling scuffle- namely by the sounds of his twin getting pinned to the ground. He hears Marian let out a string of half-hearted curses and figures that he can’t very well let Bethany and Carver get away with taking her out. It makes them look bad.

Without even opening an eye, he flops on top of his younger siblings, knocking them over. Their surprised squawks are music to his sleep-addled ears, and Marian wriggles her way out from underneath the dogpile and dives on top, helping him pin them down. Marian cackles as she descends, and soon they’re all all giggling like idiots.

For once things don’t seem so bleak. He feels like he’s back in Lothering, and it’s Summerday morning and they’re all children again, wrestling in the dirt in silly competitions. Twins on twins; Garrett and Marian versus Carver and Bethany. The girls getting dirt caked all over their clothes. Bethany's dresses and Marian's trousers, because their mother gave up on the idea of Marian keeping her nice clothes clean. 

The illusion is broken when someone kicks Aveline, who yells at them to knock it off. She's leaning against a wall, resting. Garrett looks over and sees that Aveline hasn't opened her eyes, or made a move to stop their childish fight. It’s silent as the four siblings stay still in a pile of limbs and hushed breaths. Marian, in a bold move, silently reaches out a her foot, and slowly lowers it to rest it on Aveline's knee. The sleeping woman cracks an eye open, grabs Marian’s ankle, and wrenches her off the top of the pile within a matter of seconds, and Marian yelps in surprise before falling from grace, landing on the ground with a hearty “oof."

Carver dissolves into laughter from the bottom of the pile.

Garrett looks at Bethany, who is looking back at him; their eyes wide. Laughter bubbles up in Garrett's chest and he begins to snicker, Bethany follows suit. Marian, from her spot on the floor, calls to them in an attempt to garner some sympathy.

“Brother… Sister... so cruel…” She throws in a fake cough for good measure, “Here I lie on my deathbed and yet you laugh at me...” she rolls over to lie on her belly, resting her face on the floor in an attempt to play dead.

Carver snorts loudly before shoving Bethany and Garrett off of him, "It's your own fault, sister," he tells her; and Marian, face buried in the ground, cracks a smile. A relative peace falls down around them and as quickly as it left the reality of their situation returns to them, the stench of the boat coming back in full force to plague their senses. Someone, possibly Bethany, heaves a sigh. Carver shares the sentiment, “This sucks,” he says, “I never want to be on another a boat again. Ever.”

Garrett, in an attempt to bring the light atmosphere back, speaks up, “Oh I don’t know,” he says, voice taking on a conspiratorial tone, “What if we meet a band of pirates and they ask us to join their crew?”

Bethany senses his game, “Oohh how exciting,” she says and pretends to think for a moment, "Hmm, I think I’d have to go with ‘No”, she deadpans.

“What if it’s a _sexy_ pirate” Marian speaks up, face still pressed against the grimy floor. Carver is holding her there, now, legs on her back; using her as furniture since Bethany won’t let him use her.

His twin’s response eggs him on, “All pirates are sexy,” Garret says.

Carver pauses to digest that before making a face.

“No they’re not.” He says.

“Well- in my fantasy they are,” Garrett says defensively, lacing mock hurt into his tone. Carver shakes his head, and Bethany watches the exchange with a thoughtful look on her face.

"Fantasy, Garrett?" She asks, and he nods. "Yeah," he says, "Fantasy. You know, a fictional realm in your mind, full of wonderful things? Twists and turns, drama and comedy. A beautiful thing."

Marian barks a laugh at Garrett, the force of it causing her baby brother’s legs to slide off her back limply. Carver gives up on pinning her down, feeling she’s gotten her punishment, and Marian swings up dramatically, then flops into Carver’s lap. Garrett watches as his younger brother considers this development, before sighing and crossing his arms, surly all the while. He allows it. After a moment he continues the conversation, rolling his eyes.

“Knowing you, I feel like being in your fantasy realm would be the not only dangerous, but also disgusting.”  
Garrett reels back, gasping in mock offense, but internally he congratulates his sibling on the burn. Marian has the same idea, laughing tiredly from his lap and mocking him with a long, drawn out “Buuurrrnnn,” before raising an arm to hi-five Carver.

He rejects it, instead responding with: “That goes for your dumb fantasy world too, idiot,” and Marian drops her arm.

"Oooohhh, a burn for me too! I feel the warmth of your love, little brother,” she looks up at him and makes a heart-shape with her hands.

Carver shoves her off his lap.

“Now I feel the cold floor again!” She exclaims, and Bethany snorts.   
“Are you sure that warmth you that you were feeling isn’t just from his burns?” She says, and Garrett grins, “Oh good point Bethy,” He leans close to Marian, “Maybe we should check to see if she needs medical attention?” He looks back at Bethany conspiratorially.   
“I dare say I think she does,” Bethany returns the grin, "A cooling salve might do the trick, do you think?"

Marian takes her cue to start being dramatic.

  
“Oh nooo,” she whines, “Carver, why have you done me in like this?” She fakes wiping away a tear, “I’m gonna tell mom you were bullying me.”   
Carver scoffs, unafraid of her threat.

“Fine,” Marian grins, all teeth, “I’ll tell _Aveline_ you were bullying me.”   
“I don’t care, Hawke!” Aveline responds, hearing her name, a few feet away. Marian strains to look over, the rest of them following her lead, and they see that Aveline is in the same position as before, pretending to be dozing lightly. Leandra lies next to her, finally resting. Together the siblings all look back at each other and heave a collective sigh, mood brought back down by the realization of where they’re at again.   


It’s quiet, minus the sounds of the other refugees shuffling around to try and get comfortable and return to their dreams.

 

All together they sigh.

  
“This sucks.”


	4. That I Want To Be Known

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> an end of the beginning

 

Their journey comes to an unceremonious end- the vessel once named home docks, and the swelling crowd is dropped into the city to fend for themselves. Bethany finds a sense of calm amongst the maelstrom of activity, looking to her mother who holds herself like a noblewoman- something that she’s only seen glimpses of in passing in growing up. Bethany finds herself mimicking her mother’s posture as she follows to find a clearing. Carver’s hand is clammy in her own and so she squeezes it, sending her thoughts with it. ‘It’s going to be fine. We will be fine. Things will look up, things will change. It will be okay.’  He squeezes back and she closes her eyes and lets him lead for a moment. Deep breaths. Keep going.

She opens her eyes again and sees Garrett as he stands tall next to their mother, a reassuring presence. Unmoving. Marian is next to him, with Aveline in-between. They stand together as a unit for a moment before noticing that the flow of people seems to be stalled.

“They’re not letting anyone in.” Aveline notes, and just like that, all the hope seems to drop out of her, cold anxiety taking its place.  
“What? No, that can’t be.” Panic and suspicion creep into their mother’s voice, and Aveline points to the crowd gathering at the gates.

 

“It’s true,” she says, “Look at them all.”  
  
“Are we really surprised?” Carver pitches in and drops her hand as he moves forward, and she finds herself missing his presence at her side instantly. “Everyone’s fleeing the blight, just as we are.”   
“And they would throw us all back to the woods. Unbelieveable.” Aveline’s disgust is evident as she stands and watches the scene. Someone gets too close and a guard beats them down.   
“It’s totally believable,” Marian says, annoyed, and Garrett laughs with bitter humor. “I’m only surprised they let us dock, really,” he says as he too watches the scene unfold in front of him. Bethany feels herself lose composure and hates it. She should have expected this, the cruelty. She knows better.

Their mother makes a case for finding Gamlen, saying how their family has always been of nobility and high regard in Kirkwall, and suddenly Bethany isn’t sure if that’s a good thing anymore. What does it say about them, that they do so well in a city so cruel?

They family begins to move and she finds herself following.

 

Marian takes the lead as they approach the guard, full of indignation and a need to hit something before they are all stopped.   
“Get back to the crowd, you lot. Trying to _bully_ your way into Kirkwall won’t get you in any faster,” they’re told, and before she can make any witty, scathing remarks Aveline stops her.   
“You _do_ intend to let us in, then?” she challenges him and he laughs in their faces, taking away any assurances they had about getting in.   
“So you intend to hold us all here, like we’re in prison?” Marian calls him out.

“Well. It is called the _gallows_ ,” says Garrett, and Marian fights a smile off her face despite herself.

 

The man grunts and informs them that, no, they will not be held like prisoners forever, and instead will be herded onto boats and sent back where they came from.

“Just tell me who I need to talk to,” she demands and the guard sighs and directs them to his captain.

Again they move, more stairs of course, and find themselves in a clearing. A man stands alone in front of a gate, behind it lies yet another flight of stairs and around him there are people who stalk the premise like cats. Lurking, waiting for their chance in.

Marian can’t quite find it in herself to blame them.

 

“What do you _want?_ ” she hears the captain call to one of the lurkers, who looks up to face the guard in a challenge. He approaches with his band of merry fools and they begin to make demands to get in, it seems, and Marian finds that she might as well join in with the making of demands. “The city is full,” she hears him say, and she calls him out, saying how she seems to remember hearing a little birdy who said that those with business in the city were being let in. The rabble-rousers demand answers, and the guard turns to them, demanding coin before telling them that it’s the only way, as the city is too full of refugees.   
“We’ve got family here,” Bethany pitches in from the back, and the guard scoffs.   
“I’ve heard that plenty of times, believe me. We’ll find someone to take you back to Ferelden- until then you can all stay here.”   


Marian glares and lifts her chin in a challenge at the man before Garrett steps in, “If you can find our uncle, Gamlen Amell, then you just might have,” he turns around to to a quick headcount, “six less refugees bothering you.”   
The guard looks surprised before taking a moment to consider their words. The thugs next to them watch the scene unfold on baited breath, “Gamlen… I know that name,” he says, and Carver mentions the family estate, how Gamlen is a noble.   
The guard laughs, “The only Gamlen Amell I know is a weasel who couldn’t squeeze two coppers together. If he comes back, I’ll bring him to you,” he concedes and the thugs shout in affront, “We’ve been here for _four days!_ They just got here!” they draw their weapons and cry for blood, and Marian feels Carver tense from next to her as he goes to stand in front of Bethany like a human shield.   
'Oh, goody,' Marian thinks to herself, 'I’ve been wanting to hit something!'

 

The fight ends relatively quickly, the group of them overpowering their opponents even without using their magic. Marian comes out of it with sore fists and bloody boots, and finds that she’s happy with the dull ache in her hands. A good fight is always nice. The guard thanks them for their aid and promises to help them in return by sending for Gamlen. It takes the old bastard a few days to show up, and when he finally does it's with news of squandering their family fortune, claiming he sold the estate to settle old debts and that Grandfather wasn’t happy with their mother’s choices, leaving her nothing in the will. He tells them that he’s found them a way in, however, and it’s through indentured servantry. Either smugglers or thugs, it’s their pick.

 

Marian and Garrett look between themselves and upon their younger siblings. “What do you think?” they ask, and Carver tells them he doesn’t care (he does) while Bethany sighs and says she’d prefer the smuggling to the band of mercs. Aveline tells them she’s stuck either way.

 

They consider their options, find they’ve nothing against smuggling, and decide to go to Athenril to join her crew. “We’re not killers or slavers,” she tells them, “anything short of that, however, is fair game,”

She sends them on a quick job to collect from a merchant who cheats people out of money. Aveline causes him to piss himself, they collect that which is due, and begin their year-long adventure in indentured servitude.

 

In the end, Athenril attempts cheat them into more time than they owe her. They’re her best workers, after all, and what’s better than excellent hands which you don’t have to pay? Athenril’s always known a good deal when she sees it, and so she does her best to ensure her odds and sets her trap. It’s discovered, and the three of them part ways on rocky terms- Garrett and Marian unhappy with being taken advantage of.

 

Aveline goes on to join Kirkwall’s guard. The family goes on to live in a cramped hovel, belonging to Gamlen, because that’s just how life always seems to go for them.

Trouble comes knocking, as it always does for the Hawkes, however this time it’s in the form of templars coming and taking a neighbor’s child. The child, barely five, resists, and cries, and suffers their cruelty. Her mother screams, throwing herself at them begging for them to stop, to please please give her back her baby girl please, she’s just a child, a _child_ , you can’t!

 

The girl is killed when her magic explodes from her in a flurry, and the mother lies in the street, crying for her baby. The citizens of Kirkwall pay her no mind, and continue with their lives. No aid comes for her. Garrett mourns the loss, and as quickly as it left them the realization that they are no longer secure and hidden from the watchful eyes of the Knight-Commander returns. The security that came with working for Athenril is gone.

They need money, they need influence, they need _connections,_ if they wish to avoid their bitter ends in the prison of Kirkwall’s Gallows.

 

How does it end?

It ends as most things do; something gets destroyed, or a murder occurs. A friend betrayed, a city rent to pieces. Siblings lost, a family found. A long trek into anonymity.

All things you would think to be kept forever someday fall from your grasp. Twins walk different paths, contact kept by loose threads, those that tie them together adamant. They meet again someday, the future, far off. A place where they learn their limits, where the land meets the sky, and where they learn to take a step back, take a breath, and let the world take the reigns.

 

But that’s a long time away, and for now it ends with a meeting, a mugging, and a simple,

“Varric Tethras, at your service.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so I'm done!
> 
> Maybe someday I'll come back to this and add more. Write a few of the quests. Who knows.
> 
> Chapter title comes from the song On My Own by Tessa Violet, which is a song that made me feel super inspired to write again.  
> Give it a listen, it's a really nice song!  
> thank you for reading! <3


End file.
